At a time when multilateralism is facing an unprecedented crisis of credibility, the next Secretary-General of the United Nations will have to be more than an administrator: he will need to be an authority for dialogue, a voice of balance, and a trusted global actor. In this regard, the candidacy of Macky Sall, former President of Senegal, deserves the greatest attention.
By Alpha Barry*
The world is not merely going through an accumulation of crises. It is going through a crisis of confidence in the very mechanisms meant to prevent, contain, or resolve them.
Wars are becoming entrenched. Geopolitical fractures are hardening. Multilateral institutions remain indispensable, yet their political and moral authority is increasingly being challenged. As tensions deepen, one truth becomes clear: the international system suffers less from a deficit of structures than from a deficit of trust.
It is in this spirit that the succession at the head of the United Nations must be approached.
The choice of the next Secretary-General cannot be reduced to a mere institutional exercise. It is one of the defining political tests of our time: does the international community wish to preserve yesterday’s balances, or will it finally embrace a leadership commensurate with the world as it has become?
In my view, the prospect of a Macky Sall candidacy deserves to be considered with the utmost seriousness.
Not out of convenience.
But out of lucidity.
A rare profile for a disordered world
Few figures today combine, with such depth, the qualities required to serve as Secretary-General of the United Nations.
What distinguishes a truly credible candidacy at this level is not merely experience in power. It is the ability to have embodied, within a single trajectory, several dimensions of contemporary leadership: the conduct of state affairs, an international voice, crisis management, political negotiation, the defense of Global South interests, and the ability to engage major powers without surrendering one’s own autonomy.
It is precisely this rare combination that sets Macky Sall apart.
Having myself held high-level diplomatic responsibilities, I have had the opportunity to witness his leadership firsthand in several African and international forums. I have seen his ability to listen, persuade, and bring people together. I have also seen him defend African interests with a voice that resonates far beyond the continent.
As Head of State of Senegal for twelve years, former Chairperson of the African Union, and a recognized interlocutor in major global forums, Macky Sall belongs to that uncommon category of leaders who have exercised national power while also projecting a continental presence and an affirmed international stature.
And that is exactly what the United Nations will need in the years ahead.
A voice that has spoken to the world’s major imbalances
The future UN Secretary-General must be able to understand the great fractures of our time in all their dimensions: economic, climatic, health-related, food-related, security-related, and geopolitical.
What distinguishes Macky Sall is precisely his sustained engagement on these major issues.
On debt and the financing of African economies, he has consistently advocated for a fairer reform of the international financial architecture. In particular, he has defended the idea that the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights should be mobilized in a more useful and equitable way to support African public financing.
On climate, he has repeatedly stressed that there can be no climate justice without financial justice, without adaptation financing, without a fair energy transition, and without recognition of African countries’ right to development. Even today, as President of the Global Center on Adaptation, he continues to defend this line with consistency.
On health issues, the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the profound imbalances of global solidarity. At that moment, Macky Sall spoke clearly in favor of vaccine equity, health sovereignty, and the strengthening of Africa’s capacity to produce vaccines and pharmaceutical products.
On the Russia–Ukraine war, he led in 2022, as Chairperson of the African Union, the first African diplomatic initiatives on the crisis, driven by a dual imperative: to defend dialogue and to secure supplies of grain and fertilizer essential to Africa.
On Africa’s representation in global governance, his engagement has also mattered. The African Union’s admission to the G20 in September 2023 marked a historic step forward, to which his advocacy gave decisive momentum.
On the Sahel and the fight against terrorism, Macky Sall has consistently defended an approach rooted in solidarity, security, and an understanding of the deeper causes of instability. This commitment has also translated into concrete action, notably through Senegal’s and WAEMU’s support for the countries most affected by terrorism, as well as through sustained mobilization in regional frameworks.
A mediator in a polarized world
One of the most serious threats facing the United Nations today is paralysis through polarization.
The next Secretary-General must be able to speak to all without being perceived as the man of one camp. He must be able to be heard in Washington without being disqualified in Beijing, respected in Brussels without losing credibility in Addis Ababa, and listened to in Moscow as well as in Kyiv, in the capitals of the South as in those of the North.
In other words, what will be needed is a mediator.
And it is precisely this quality of balance, restraint, and dialogue that gives a candidacy like Macky Sall’s its full significance.
For it must also be said clearly: Macky Sall has never merely defended Africa. He has engaged with the entire world — with major powers as well as emerging nations, with international financial institutions as well as regional organizations, with the North as well as the South.
This ability to maintain a clear and credible voice across multiple arenas is today one of the most valuable qualities the United Nations can seek.
A candidacy of responsibility
Given the crises and challenges our world faces, there is no doubt that the United Nations remains indispensable. But it will only fully regain its strength if it regains its legitimacy.
Its next Secretary-General must therefore carry a clear vision: to restore the credibility of multilateralism through greater fairness, greater coherence, greater attentiveness, and greater justice in addressing the world’s vulnerabilities.
In the years ahead, the United Nations will need a personality capable of understanding the world as it is, without giving up on the ideal of what it ought to be.
It will need a leadership of balance.
A voice of responsibility.
An authority of trust.
And it must be said plainly: few personalities today combine, with such coherence, such a complete trajectory, such familiarity with the world’s major issues, and such a proven ability to bring together statecraft, international credibility, and a sense of dialogue.
That is why Macky Sall’s candidacy for the office of Secretary-General of the United Nations deserves to be advanced with seriousness, with ambition, and with the sense of responsibility that our era demands.
The world needs a more listened-to United Nations.
The United Nations needs a stronger voice.
And that voice, tomorrow, could come from Africa — carried by a voice of experience, balance, and responsibility: a voice respected across the world, that of Macky Sall.
⸻
* Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Burkina Faso
(January 2016 – December 2021)
